Cool-climate garlic has small cloves and intense flavor

When I asked Fox Run Winery Owner Scott Osborn, “Why a Garlic Festival?” he was quick to explain, “Garlic is a key component of almost every great meal, and wine should be too.”

When you think about it that way, the two make the perfect pairing.

Scott went on to explain that most who cultivate the highly aromatic and flavor-intensive cool climate garlic here are artisans, growing it on small plots of up to an acre in size.  Who knew this favored cooking condiment is an unsung spice of the Finger Lakes region?

So what can attendees at this year’s Glorious Garlic Festival expect?  Not only will they have an opportunity to meet a dozen specialized garlic purveyors and sample their savory food products, but they can also taste homemade ice cream, dipping and hot sauces, marinades, maple syrup, farmstead cheeses and locally-roasted coffee produced by carefully-selected exhibitors from the Finger Lakes region.

In case you’re looking for new recipes on how to use this regional delicacy, garlic-inspired cooking demonstrations and lectures will certainly make your mouth water and encourage experimentation.

In the Finger Lakes, a Festival has to have music, so the sounds of Dee Specker & The Lone Rangers and  Geneva’s Castle Street Band will fire up the festivities on both days, as will the glass blowers from the Corning Museum of Glass who always put on an amazing show.  If you’ll have children with you, there’ll be fun activities for the kids as well.

And lest you think I’ve forgotten about the pairing of garlic and wine, Scott assures me that wine will be flowing in the Grand Tasting Tent where Fox Run’s Wine Club Members will be able to taste for free a variety of Fox Run’s hand-crafted, award-winning wines that non-members will pay $20 to sample.  Evan Dawson, author of Summer in a Glass, is also scheduled to pop in for a visit.

Fox Run’s 19th Annual Glorious Garlic Festival will take place at 670 State Route 14 in Penn Yan on August 6 and 7 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.  The festival is free to attend, but there is a fee for some of the activities.  Go, and enjoy this glorious Finger Lakes Festival that celebrates the fruits of the land!


Lone Rangers Video courtesy of FLrec and Youtube.

You may also be interested in Visiting Corning NY – Corning Museum of Glass.